Hair conditioning device

ABSTRACT

A device for grooming or conditioning hair which device may take the form of a conventional comb or brush having teeth or bristles associated with grooming or conditioning material which when moisturized will uniformly impart grooming or conditioning material to the hair when the hair is combed or brushed.

United States Patent 1 1 Wright 1 Sept. 30, 1975 HAIR CONDITIONINGDEVICE [76] Inventor: Hershel Earl Wright, 12 Eighth Dr, Decatur, 111.62521 {22] Filed: Oct. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 408,281

[52] US. Cl. 132/116 [51] Int. Cl. A45D 24/22 [58] Field of Search v.132/9, 108, 109, 116, 121, 132/120 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS l 794,754 3/1931 Burkhart 132/116 2.594.721 4/1952 Beebe 132/1162.705.499 4/1955 Breezt:.. 132/109 2,834,357 5/1958 Gould... 132/1093.053264 9/1962 Breton. 132/116 3,084 374 4/1963 Ziegler 132/85 $683,9428/1972 McKay 132/112 Primary E.\'aminerG. E. McNeil] [57] ABSTRACT Adevice for grooming or conditioning hair which device may take the formof a conventional comb or brush having teeth or bristles associated withgrooming or conditioning material which when moisturized will uniformlyimpart grooming or conditioning material to the hair when the hair iscombed or brushed.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures US. Patent Sept. 30,1975

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Combs and brushes have long been used forseparating, adjusting and generally arranging hair. Grooming orconditioning materials such as oils, pastes and the like have also beenused. The normal technique for grooming or conditioning the hair istorub the material into the hair with the fingers, afterwhieh the hairis combedor brushed. In the present invention the hair is automaticallygroomed or conditioned during the combing or brushing operation withoutthe necessity of applying grooming or conditioning material and the likebeforehand.

The prior art discloses a number -of comb or brushlike devicesassociated with cleaning means for removing lint and other particlesfrom the hair. There having also been disclosed in prior art comb orbrush-like devices having oil reservoirs associated with the devices fordepositing grooming material in the hair during the combing operation.In general, these devices are considered' cumbersome and/or sticky, donot apply the material to the hair shaft uniformly and tend to plug.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a simple andmore efficient means for conditioning or grooming and arranging the hairthan heretofore available free from the problems generally referred toabove.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea device which will both arrange and groom or condition the hair inoneoperation. As used hereafter, the term conditioning will includegrooming and/or conditioning and the use of materials such as grooming,perfuming and/or dressing aids, conditioners for the purpose ofsoftening, strengthening and- /or medieinally curing hair, hair dyesandthe like.

Another :object of the present invention is to provide a conditioningdevice having a main body support member and a plurality of generallydepending elements associated with conditioning material.-

Anothcr object of theprcsent invention is to provide a hair conditioningdevice associated with conditioning material which can be usedrepeatedly to condition and arrange the hair. L Y

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hairconditioning device associated with conditioning is to provide materialin substantially solid form, which material is at leastpartiallyfluidized when in contact with water.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a device or comb I0 having asupporting member 12 and a plurality of generally depending elements orteeth 14. Towards the upper portion 'of'the' depending teeth 14 is astratum 16 of conditioning material 18. The width of the stratum ofconditioning material l8-which can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2extends from the supporting member 12 along the depending teeth to aline or lower stratum border 19 located anywhere between the supportingmember'l2 and the ends of the depending teeth 14 of the comb 10.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the present inventionwherein the device is substantially in the form of a brush 20 having asupporting member 22 with a plurality of depending teeth or bristles 24.Between'the supporting member 22 andthe ends, of the depending bristles24 is a stratum or layer 26 of conditioning material. As shown in FIG. 3the layer of conditioning material fills the Space 28 between the bottomof the supporting member 22 to a level between said member and the endsof the bristles 24. However, it is obvious only portions of the space 28need be filled with conditioning material and the shape of theconditioning material may even take various forms, for example parallelrows of conditioning material as opposed to a solid layer of material.

In operation, the comb or brush is moisturized by dipping it in water orimmersing it in water flowing from a valve or faucet. The moisturizationtends to partially dissolve or fluidize the outer portion of thestraturn of conditioning material such that when the comb or brush ismoved through the hair, conditioning mate- -rial will be uniformlydeposited on the hair shafts.

The conditioning material on the comb or brush is in substantially solidform. In addition, the conditioning material should be soluble to someextent or at least affected in a short period of contact with water tofluidize the material sufficiently so that it will uniformly coat or beapplied uniformly to the hair shafts during the combing or brushingoperation. On the other hand, the conditioning material should not be soaffected or solu ble upon a short period of contact with water such thata significant amount of the material is lost or dissolved in the waterprior to the combing 'orbrushing.

For practical purposes, the short period of time referred to above meansless than five seconds. Furthermore, the depth of the stratum fluidizedin contact with water for periods of time of 3 seconds and less shouldnot e'xceed'ZO thousandths of an inch nor should it be less than onethousandth. Furthermore, if tests are run according to the procedure ofExample III, the loss of conditioningmaterial should not exceed 40% byweight nor be less than 571 by weight. Although the test described inExample III is, of course, more rigorous than would be encounteredduring normal usage, it is a fair measure of performance. In addition,the conditioning material forming the core or unfluidized portion of thestratum should not be too soft or else most of the conditioning materialwill be pulled from the comb or brush after one or two strokes throughthe hair resulting in nonuniform messy deposits of the material in thehair. It is recommended that the stratum of conditioning material have aShore D hardness of 30 or higher. In addition, the conditioning materialmaking up the stratum should be sufficiently tough or elastic such thatportions or pieces of the stratum will not be breaking off during normalusage.

The amount of conditioning material making up the stratum will varydepending on the size and type of device to be used. Normally, the widthof the stratum will not exceed about one-half the length of thedepending elements for satisfactory combing or brushing and should bemore than one-twentieththe length of the depending elements for adequaterepeated use.

The following examples are given to further illustrate the invention andare not intended as limitations thereof, and unless otherwise specified,quantities are mentioned on a volume basis.

EXAMPLE I Ten parts of glycerine, parts of propylene glycol and 35 partsof keratin protein are added to 45 partsof water in a small tray. Theparticular keratin protein used is a soluble one produced by CudahyLaboratories having approximately 12.0% by weight ofnitrogen, 6.06% byweight of sulfur, 2.2% by weight free amino acids and 2.2% by weightvolatiles, mainly moisture. The keratin protein also contains about 40to45% by weight of di-, triand tetra-peptides having molecular weights inthe order of 10,000.

After the above solution is mixed, aplastic comb (e.g. polystyrenehaving a Standinger molecular weight of about 55,000) which isapproximately inches long having depending teeth approximately linchlong is dipped teeth down into the solution up to about the lower edgeof the supporting member 12 as shownin FIG. 1 of the drawings. The cornbis turned over and clamped such that the teeth point upwardly therebyallowing the solution to drain down along the teeth to form a stratumsuch as shown in FIG. 1. The comb stratum is allowed to dry in thisposition for 2 days at room temperature or until substantially dry,after which the comb is wetted and immediately used to combthe hair of ahuman head. It is found that the grooming material was substantiallyuniformly applied during the combing process.

EXAMPLE II EXAMPLE III A comb is prepared in accordance with theprocedure of Example I except that the comb is weighed be fore beingdipped and also after it has been dried for 2 days. After the comb isdried, the upper end or support member is clamped in a holder and theteeth are fully I immersed in a water tank at least 12 inches long andabout 6 inches wide. The comb is then moved broadsidely through the 12inches of water at a rate of 1 inch- /second and immediately withdrawn.

The specimen is then dried for 2 days at approxia hair dye (e.g. henna)or the like, or a hair conditioner such as lanolin esters, natural foodextracts and the like. as long as the ingredients selected arecompatible with any other admixed ingredients and can form stratumsalone or in admixtures.

It is not essential that all of the ingredients in the conditioningmaterial be soluble or affected by water contact. For example, certainof the ingredients which are fluidized incontact with water may serve asvehicles for other ingredients which are not so affected.

The range of vehicles which may be used as carriers for conditioningaids is quite broad. On the other hand to:effectively carry out theobjects of the invention, the particular vehicle must meet severalrequirements. First, the vehicle in combination with its conditioningaids should be sufficiently solid to retain its shape at normalatmospheric pressure on the comb or brush through the range of climatictemperatures normally encountered through the four seasons or at leastfrom about 50 to about F. In fact, this temperature range is applicablebroadly with respect to the stratum whether a vehicle is employed ornot. Secondly, the vehicle must be compatible with the particularconditioning aid or aids which are to be used, either miscible ordispersible as the case may be without significantly adversely affectingthe effectiveness of the conditioning aid. Finally, the vehicle incombination with the conditioning aid must be sufficiently fluidizableafter a short period of contact with water to uniformly coat oruniformly apply conditioning aids to the hair shafts without substantialloss of such materials in the water.

As indicated above, various types of vehicles may be used as long asthey meet the requirements described herein. Vehicles made up ofgelatin, water and a plasticizer such as glycerin have been found to beeffective to carry'conditioning materials.

The supporting member and the depending elements may be made from any ofthe conventionally known materials such as plastic, vulcanized rubber,metal or wood.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious arrangements and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

l. A hair conditioning device which comprises, in combination, asupporting member and a plurality of generally depending elementssecured to said supporting member, said elements being spaced one fromthe other and having conditioning material solidified between saiddepending elements and occupying at least a portion of the space betweenthe supporting member .and a plane perpendicularly oriented with respectto the depending elements located between said member and the ends ofsaid depending elements, said conditioning material being sufficientlysolid to retain its shape under atmospheric pressure between thetemperatures of about 50 to about 90F. and being sufficiently fluidizedafter a short period of contact with water to be capable of uniformlyapplying conditioning material to hair shafts when said device is used.

2. The hair conditioning device according to claim 1 wherein thesupporting member and depending elements are in the form of a comb.

3. The hair conditioning device according to claim 1 wherein theconditioning material comprises a condiwhercin the supporting member anddepending clctioning aid and a water-fluidizable vehicle to carry saidments are in the form of a brush. conditioning aid.

4. The hair conditioning device according to claim 1

1. A hair conditioning device which comprises, in combination, asupporting member and a plurality of generally depending elementssecured to said supporting member, said elements being spaced one fromthe other and having conditioning material solidified between saiddepending elements and occupying at least a portion of the space betweenthe supporting member and a plane perpendicularly oriented with respectto the depending elements located between said member and the ends ofsaid depending elements, said conditioning material being sufficientlysolid to retain its shape under atmospheric pressure between thetemperatures of about 50* to about 90*F. and being sufficientlyfluidized after a short period of contact with water to be capable ofuniformly applying conditioning material to hair shafts when said deviceis used.
 2. The hair conditioning device according to claim 1 whereinthe supporting member and depending elements are in the form of a comb.3. The hair conditioning device according to claim 1 wherein thesupporting member and depending elements are in the form of a brush. 4.The hair conditioning device according to claim 1 wherein theconditioning material comprises a conditioning aid and awater-fluidizable vehicle to carry said conditioning aid.